Old Soldiers Never Die
by Drauchenfyre
Summary: Following his recovery of the Ring Horcrux, Albus Dumbledore visits an old friend for advice...


Old Soldiers Never Die...

A Harry Potter Fanfiction

by Drauchenfyre

After recovering and destroying Voldemort's ring horcrux, Albus Dumbledore pays a final visit to an old friend...

***STORY***

_**FOR THE GREATER GOOD**_

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore contemplated those words as he passed through the gates they adorned, the infamous gates of Nurmengard Prison, hidden deep in the Black Forest of Germany. Built in the late 1930's by the Dark Lord Grindelwald to house his political enemies, it had been claimed by the Continental European Magical Ministries as a place to send the worst of the worst. Albus winced at the thought of Nurmengard and its British equivalent, Azkaban Island. The prisoners here in Nurmengard were the worst of the worst, and even they did not deserve the soul-destroying influence of the Dementors the British Ministry used for even minor offenders. It was moments like this, as he gazed at the ruin that was his left hand, that he wondered if he had truly accomplished anything in his years as a leader.

After registering and checking in his wand at the main guard station, Albus was led to the tallest tower. Even the guards here were not allowed wands: they were too easily taken in a struggle with a prisoner. Instead, the wizards and witches who guarded Nurmengard were imported from around the world as being experienced in the various 'unarmed' magics- Scandinavian Rune-Etchers, Oriental Nature-Talkers, and other disciplines that required no external focus, only talent and training.

Albus was pulled from his musings as he was allowed into a special visitor's room at the top of the tallest tower in Nurmengard. On the other side of an unbreakable crystal wall that only allowed sound through, was the cell and, for the last fifty years, home of the man Albus Dumbledore had come to see.

Gellert Alain Grindelwald.

The years had not been kind to Albus's former friend and once-implacable foe. He was stooped, while Albus stood tall, and his white hair almost completely gone, as were most of his teeth. His face, wrinkled and jowly as a bulldog's, was twisted into a wry smile, as his cobalt-grey eyes showed mischief- the eyes that even a half-century in prison could not touch.

Gellert gestured towards the comfortable chair in front of Albus, a gesture Albus was all too glad to comply with. As each poured himself a glass of ice water from their own pitcher, both contemplated the other, remembering the old days. The good times. The bad times. Regrets.

Ariana.

It had taken many decades before Gellert had admitted to Albus that, of all the deaths he had caused in his life, only Ariana Dumbledore's death haunted him. He could never justify the death of Albus's only sister as being for the Greater Good.

It was senseless and unnecessary. Nothing less and nothing more.

Gellert broke the silence with his deep, strong, Baltic-accented voice. "I have not seen you in many a year, Albus. Not since the Potter boy entered the Chamber of Secrets and you brought me a diary with questions about Dark magic- a diary that led to my telling you about Horcruxes. You had your theory then on how Riddle survived that night- now I hear that he walks amongst the living once more."

"How did you hear that, Gellert?"

"I am an old convict who has had his magic bound for decades and receives no visitors save you, Albus. They see no harm in allowing me to read the papers and keep up on current events. And before you ask, no, I am not an Animagus like your friend Black. I never saw the point in pursuing that line of magic. I was always more adept in Charms than Transfiguration, as you may recall."

"True, true. It has been far too long, but, the price of authority, you know..."

Gellert's wry smile returned to his face as he replied, "All too well, Albus. All too well. So, how are you keeping yourself, old friend?"

In response, Albus raised his withered hand.

Emitting a low whistle between his teeth, Gellert studied the ruined wreck of a hand. "The Leper's Curse, if I'm not mistaken. Ancient, obscure, and with no known cure. It will work its way up your arm, killing the arm as it goes, until it gets to the torso. It will then start killing you internal organs, eventually finding one you cannot live without. Even cutting off the afflicted arm will not help- the curse is upon you, and will likely kill you within a year. I must say, Albus, I never expected to outlive you. What could have possessed you to wear an object that must have reeked of dark magic?"

"The ring the curse was attached to was an old family ring of the Gaunts, direct descendants of Cadmus Peverell."

Gellert's eyes widened at this. "The Stone of Resurrection? After all these years, you found the Second Hallow? What then, of the Cloak of Invisibility?"

"It belongs to the last living descendant of Ignotus Peverell, having been passed down through the family for centuries: Harry Potter currently possesses the Third Hallow, though he knows not its true power or significance."

Gellert sat back, his eyes closed as he smiled. " The Deathly Hallows. In our youth, they were the dream of two foolish young men. Now that we are older and wiser, you find that you are as tempted as ever by their allure. Was the Ring significant in any other ways?"

"Voldemort had made it into one of his Horcruxes."

Gellert chuckled quietly at that. "Arrogant young fool. He held an artifact that, used properly, could anchor him to this world more firmly than his silly little soul jars, and never bothered to learn its true power, I'd wager."

"Indeed."

"So, this meeting was about the Hallow? Or was there more to it than that?"

"I find myself facing my own mortality like never before, old friend. I know that my demise is imminent, but much still needs to be done, if Voldemort is to be defeated once and for all. He must face justice."

"Nay, Albus. For his crimes, he must face death. His victims will never recover the traumas he and his Death Eaters caused so long as their specter looms over them."

"I did not end your life, or the Knights of Walpurgis-"

"Something I still curse you for, Albus. I am not Riddle, and he is not me. I had the best of intentions, but you know the old saying about the road to Hell. I allowed the ends to justify the means, to allow the means to become in a way more important than the ends. My Knights were out of control. I could not turn on them or walk away- they would simply kill and replace me and continue on unchecked. I needed to lose, badly, to the Leader of the Light. To demoralize them so they could be gathered up."

Albus sat bolt upright in his chair. "You wanted to lose that battle?"

Gellert chuckled. "Why else would I refrain from using the Elder Wand in our duel Albus? You were always more powerful, more skilled than I. Only with the Elder Wand would I have been able to defeat you. And yet, I used my old wand. My school wand. I wanted to lose to you because I thought I could count on you to do what I could not- stop my Knights for good."

Here, Gellert fixed Albus with a hard glare. "You failed in that Albus, as you undoubtedly have many times since. You succumbed to weakness, claiming the Elder Wand as your own instead of breaking it, ending its swath of destruction throughout history. You were far too forgiving of my Knights- tell me, how many of my Knights flocked to Voldemort's banner during his first rise? How many of their children took his Dark Mark? How many of those children flocked to his side when he returned to power?"

Albus tugged at his collar and began, "It is important to forgive one's enemies-"

Gellert cut across Albus's speech with a sharp "Bull." Once Albus's startled blue eyes looked again into Grindelwald's, the old Dark Lord continued, "Redemption can only work if the person _wants _to be redeemed, Albus. If they walk away scot-free for their crimes, they have no incentive to change. They must experience the consequences of their actions, or they will believe there are no consequences, and that only fools allow themselves to be restricted by morality. Abraxas Malfoy was one of my most powerful lieutenants- the one I believed most likely to assassinate me and take over, in fact. He was one of Voldemort's first Death Eaters. His son Lucius became one of Voldemort's top lieutenants. What of Lucius's son- Draco, I believe he was named? Has he been allowed to run rampant because you were too weak-willed to rein him in as a Headmaster should? Will he also follow down the Dark Path as his father and grandfather did before him? How many innocents have to die before you accept that you cannot save everyone, that you cannot turn a dragon into a rabbit by simply hoping for the best?"

Both men were on their feet glaring at each other by now, their voices rising. Albus growled, "And is this for the Greater Good, Gellert? Kill them without trying to redeem them?"

"No, Albus, this is about you sacrificing innocent people who look to you for leadership while you allow your guilt over Ariana to stay your hand! Her death was tragic, senseless, and completely avoidable, yes, but very few people bear her pure soul, Albus! You constantly allow the good people who follow you to die, while their murderers walk free of punishment, never deviating from their dark paths! You need to realize that not everyone can be saved! As a leader, it is your duty to protect the people who look to you! Those who would prey upon them for their own sick amusement deserve no mercy, for they have none themselves!"

"And become the monster everyone fears?"

"No, become the noble knight who slays those monsters in defense of the innocent!"

Both men glared at each other. It was an old argument, one they had had many times over the century-plus they had known each other. Albus thought Gellert too agressive, Gellert thought Albus too passive. Neither could make the other budge.

They never had.

Gellert sighed. His stubborn old friend would be the death of his precious Light Side. Perhaps it was best he was dying. A younger man might be more willing than Albus to do what was necessary. "You say there is much yet to be done, Albus. Do you have someone you can trust to carry on when you are gone?"

Albus heaved a sigh and answered, "Young Harry Potter has shown courage and leadership in the face of Voldemort's forces. He would be my guess as the next Leader of the Light."

Gellert nodded. "Then take what time you have to prepare him, Albus. Talk to him straight, none of your foolish riddles or tests. You haven't the time left for that. There is much you will need to teach him before you are gone."

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"Old soldiers like us never die, Albus. We either fade away quietly or are defeated in a blaze of glory. Do the world a favor, though, Albus, and destroy the Elder Wand. Its destructive path through history is already far too long. If it continues, it will only end up back in the arms of darkness, and cause pain and suffering once more."

"I shall think on it, my friend. I have much to do."

Gellert placed his hand against the crystal barrier. "Then I believe this is goodbye, Albus. I do not suspect you will have time to visit again in this world, but we shall see each other once again in the next."

Albus placed his hand on the crystal, directly over Gellert's. "Goodbye, old friend. We have never truly seen eye to eye, but you were, in a sense, my truest friend all these years."

Gellert's wry smile returned. "A captive audience and a sounding board, at least."

"Indeed." Albus's smile now matched Gellert's.

The old men stood in silence for a few moments, then Albus turned and walked out without another word. Gellert's eyes never left Albus until he was gone. The old wizard sighed. Albus meant well, he truly did. But once again, his love of secrets and obsession with redeeming the irredeemable would be his undoing. Gellert knew that, when Albus's time came, he would fall at the hand of one he trusted, one he should not have.

But then, if he was not far too trusting, he would not be Albus Dumbledore.

***END***


End file.
